Celadon Group Announces Details for First Quarter Fiscal 2017 Conference Call

Great Dane Brings New Safety Features to Everest Reefer Trailers

Photo: Great Dane

Great Dane is introducing several new features designed to improve the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and the food transported in its Everest refrigerated trailers.

The Everest reefer features a void-free insulation foaming process, premium liners, and modular panel construction with no wood in the trailer. These features provide improved thermal efficiency and a safer, more sanitary cargo container.

Great Dane's ThermoGuard– made with a proprietary barrier layer to reduce cooling run time and help maintain excess cooling capacity – helps maintain insulation performance for the life of the trailer. ThermoGuard helps reduce fuel consumption and is more efficient at maintaining the right cargo temperature.

The Everest roof system is constructed of lightweight features connected through a bonded process to provide durability and better thermal efficiency. An aluminum roof sheet is supported by extruded aluminum roof bows and is secured to the top rail using a rolled edge design to seal the perimeter against moisture intrusion.

The floor design protects cargo from underneath and helps ensure proper temperatures. The 16,000-pound-rated aluminum duct floor is automatically welded to seal out moisture, and the composite floor sills are engineered for better durability and defense against moisture intrusion.

The Everest is available with multiple side door heights, widths and locations. Great Dane's unique blade lock side door design holds the door securely closed so cold air stays in. The blade lock exerts constant pressure along the full height of the door, ensuring that the efficient dual-compression seals prevent air loss around the perimeter of the door.

Great Dane and ASA Electronics have also introduced a small wireless camera system powered by auto-pairing technology. The rear-mounted camera features an embedded microphone and gives drivers increased awareness of the action behind their rigs on the road, in parking lots, and during docking maneuvers.

Drivers see detailed images for a minimum of ...Read the rest of this story

Will Trump Effect Unseat Key House Transpo Leaders?

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) Photo: Evan Lockridge

Just three weeks from now, Election Day will at last mercifully reveal whether Donald Trump's upstart and populist or Hillary Clinton's plodding and cautious campaign has won the White House.

But the more the polls in these final days point to Secretary Clinton prevailing, the more they indicate that the reelections of some GOP stalwarts on Capitol Hill are threatened.

Of greatest interest to the trucking industry is the impact Trump's recent free fall in the polls may have on the reelection of key members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The committee “faces a shakeup after Nov. 8, with several high-profile members-- all the way up to the chairman--- far from guaranteed to keep their seats,” argues an Oct. 18 post by Politico's Morning Transportation reporters.

The daily online political tipsheet points out that Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), the committee's chairman, is “embroiled in a race many didn't expect to be so tight.” Tea Party-backed challenger Art Halvorson narrowly lost the GOP primary to Shuster and then won the Democratic nod as a write-in candidate As a result, the state's Democratic Party has thrown its support to another write-in, Adam Sedlock, whom Halvorson bested by just 41 votes in the primary.

Even with all that, the smart money has been on Shuster keeping his seat, despite him facing ethical questions over his reported dating of an airlines lobbyist while he was legislating an overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system.

For example, back in August, Politico reporter Heather Cagyle contended that Halvorson faced “an uphill battle” as both establishment Republicans and Democrats will be working to undermine his candidacy.”

Then Trump happened and now all bets are off in the Keystone State and other presidential battleground states as well as in specific Congressional districts.

Morning Transportation also doesn't ...Read the rest of this story

Plans for Surrey parking area are parked

Plans for Surrey parking lot are parked

Truckload Linehaul, Intermodal Rates Drops Forecast to Continue

Truckload linehaul and intermodal rates are continuing their declines despite some slight improvements, according to two new reports.

The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index decreased 3.5% year-over-year in September. While this marks the seventh straight year-over-year drop, the latest reading of 123 is the highest since April, due in part to a month-over-month improvement of 1.3% following a drop of 0.9% in August and a hike of 1.1% in July.

Analysts at Avondale Partners predict that rates will remain about the same through mid-2017, thanks to softening demand and increasing capacity, ranging from 3% lower to 1% higher.

The investment bank also cited other factors putting pressure on pricing, including carrier bankruptcies at historic lows, truck counts up by single digits, and the relaxation of the 34-hour restart rule for drivers.

The index is an indicator of market fluctuations in per-mile truckload pricing, isolating the linehaul component of full truckload costs from other components, such as fuel and accessorials, providing a reflection of trends in baseline truckload prices.

Meantime, a gauge of intermodal rates fell only 0.7% in September compared to a year earlier, its smallest year-over-year drop since January 2015.

The Cass Intermodal Index moved 1.1% lower in September from August, to a reading of 124.2, following monthly gains of 1.6% in August and 2% in July, with average monthly decreases of 2.4% over the previous 20 months.

Despite this reprieve, Avondale Partners expects intermodal rates to continue their decline through the remainder of 2016 as lower oil prices negatively impact U.S. domestic demand.

"We have historically observed a high degree of correlation between truckload and intermodal pricing, and know that should truckload rates accelerate in the coming months, intermodal rates would normally follow," Avondale said. "That said, contract rates for trucking have been losing strength, even going negative in many lanes, which would imply even more ...Read the rest of this story

Industry Headwinds To Blame For JB Hunt’s Q3 Miss